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In this work, multilayered Cu/TiON/CuO solar selective absorber thin films were successfully deposited onto Al sub strates using the sol-gel process combined with dip-coating technique and post annealed at (400, 450, 500, 550 and 600) °C for 2 hours. The XRD and FESEM results revealed that all the thin films are of high crystalline quality and improved surface morphology with crystallized grains in the range of (38 – 84) nm. The EDX results confirm the presence of the main elements in the film materials. The highest solar absorptance ~(87%) and the lowest thermal emittance ~(5.6%) along with the highest mechanical characteristics of both the hardness(25.7 GPa) and Young's modulus (264 GPa) were achieved from the Cu/TiON/CuO film annealed at 600 °C. The band gap energies of the prepared thin films are in the range of (1.2 – 1.8) eV. The Cu/TiON/CuO thin films show good thermal stability at higher annealing temperature which makes them a promising candidate for thermal collectors and solar absorbing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]